Help me find a heat sealer

[LBBeans]

If I'm sealing foil-lined kraft bags or just regular foil bags what kind of heat sealer do I need? It seems to me that the wire strip impulse sealers don't create a wide enough seal so I'm thinking about a foot operated, direct heat with some kind of crimping or waffle jaw. A continuous band sealer would be nice but they are a bit out of my price range at the moment. Any help would be appreciated. Thanks.

 

[peterjschmidt]

Impulse sealers work fine. Your main concern is how many bags per day.

 

[JumpinJakJava]

6"Constant Heat Hot Jaw Hand Held Sealer 9 16 Wide Seal for Mylar Bags KF150CST | eBay

This one has worked fine for me. But make sure you purchase the wide seal.
Mine has a high and low setting. I usually leave it on the high setting unless
I am sealing less thick foil sample bags, after the sealer has heated up,
I will turn to low for the sample bags. You could surf the internet for maybe a better deal.
I have seen them range between $80.00 --$130.00.
If that suits you price range.

 

[peterjschmidt]

This is the impulse sealer I use; TinyURL.com - shorten that long URL into a tiny URL. It's more costly than the typical 12", but the reason I opted for this model is for its magnetic hold feature. It has an electromagnet that holds it shut for the sealing time and the cooling time, which is great because I can work on filling the next bag instead of standing there holding the sealer closed. Even though it may be 10sec. or less, it's a great convenience feature.

 

[expat]

I bought from this guy on eBay: WORLDWIDE VERSION shiping included FR900 ss CONTINUOUS BAND VERTICAL BAG SEALER (worldwide version because I needed 220v power). Don Calnan and his email address is: [email protected].

I paid about $600 and 20,000 bags+ later everything is still good.

 

[chast]

Whats your budget? North Atlantic Bags sells a jaw sealer, AMI heat sealers have a wide range of options and pricing, DoBoy has a great bench mount/handheldsealer. 5lb foil lined bags take a lot of heat so consider that if you will be using that large of a bag.

 

[MasterPeace]

I found my sealer on craigslist. 18" impulse. My bags have foil in them too. I just crank it up to the max timing, and hit it twice.

 

[LBBeans]

I'm looking at 500-1000 bags/day.

from 2oz pouches to 5lb bags. kraft lined with foil.

I tried some bags on a friend's impulse sealer. Not as nice as the one peterjschmidt linked, just a regular tabletop one. I found it sealed the pouches fine but didn't make an airtight seal on the foil side gusset bags.

Thanks everyone for the responses. I've got some reading to do.

 

[harryh]

Can anyone comment on the following? Someone just told me that the sealing process releases smoke into the bag and taints the coffee? Has anyone had this problem?? Thanks

 

[peterjschmidt]

I'd say that's nonsense. If a sealer is producing any smoke at all, it's set waaaaaay to high.

 

[harryh]

Thanks for the feedback. I just got a cheap tabletop impulse sealer. The sealer itself actually has a funny plastic/glue smell, but nothing seems to get trapped in the bags.

 

[wwcove]

An old Guatemalan friend of mine that both grew his own coffee in the homeland and roasts and sells his own recommended a floor model with foot peddle such as this one on EBay for only $69:

New 110V 12" Foot Pedal Impulse Sealer Heat Seal Machine Plastic Bag Sealing | eBay (one seal on each side of bag gives a complete seal) but if your doing 500 plus bags a day an impulse sealer is likely not your choice. Rather a hot sealer would be...

funny thing is he just uses a clothes iron. And he prefers that over even a $300 sealer he has

 

[keppa837]

Help me find a 12 in coffee bag sealer

 

[Cafeciteaux]

This is one that I purchased a while back. Heat Sealer at Roastar Free shipping also and these guys are great to work with.